Throughout history, various governments have taken secretive actions and cover-ups that have shocked the world. From military operations to covert political schemes, some of these cover-ups have left a lasting impact on public trust and transparency. Many of these hidden events have only come to light decades later, sparking public outrage and raising questions about the extent of governmental secrecy. Below is a list of the top 30 most shocking government cover-ups, ranked from 30 to 1.
30. Operation CHAOS 1967-1974
The CIA’s Operation CHAOS involved spying on American citizens, particularly anti-war activists, without their knowledge. It was designed to monitor dissent and prevent Soviet influence in U.S. protests. The operation illegally tracked individuals and organizations, and its existence was hidden from the public until the 1970s. The revelations led to severe criticism of the CIA’s domestic surveillance activities and a reform of intelligence-gathering practices.
29. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study 1932-1972
The U.S. Public Health Service conducted the Tuskegee Syphilis Study to observe the progression of syphilis in African American men. Participants were misled into thinking they were receiving treatment but were denied penicillin even after it became the standard treatment. The study continued for 40 years before being exposed. The scandal led to reforms in medical ethics and informed consent for clinical trials.
28. The Iran-Contra Affair 1985-1987
The Iran-Contra Affair involved senior U.S. officials secretly facilitating the sale of arms to Iran, despite an arms embargo. The proceeds were then used to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua, violating U.S. law. The cover-up was exposed in 1986, leading to investigations and several convictions. The event damaged the Reagan administration’s credibility and sparked debates about the limits of executive power.
27. Watergate Scandal 1972-1974
The Watergate Scandal began with the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and led to a cover-up by President Richard Nixon’s administration. The conspiracy to obstruct justice unraveled as journalists uncovered extensive wiretapping, surveillance, and bribery. Nixon’s resignation marked the first time a U.S. president left office under pressure, and the scandal remains a symbol of political corruption.
26. MKUltra 1953-1973
MKUltra was a CIA program that experimented with mind control and chemical agents, including LSD, on unwitting U.S. citizens. These experiments were conducted to develop interrogation techniques during the Cold War, but many of the subjects suffered long-term psychological damage. The program remained a secret until it was exposed in the 1970s, leading to Congressional investigations and a public outcry over unethical government experimentation.
25. Operation Paperclip 1945-1959
Operation Paperclip was a secret program that brought over 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians to the U.S. after World War II. Many of them were former Nazis, and the government overlooked their Nazi affiliations to advance U.S. military and space technology. The cover-up persisted for years, with many of these individuals playing key roles in NASA and defense projects without public knowledge of their backgrounds.
24. The Manhattan Project 1942-1945
The Manhattan Project was the top-secret U.S. government effort to develop nuclear weapons during World War II. Despite its global significance, the project was kept under wraps for years, with workers and the public unaware of the purpose of the research. After the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the scale and secrecy of the project became a subject of public scrutiny.
23. COINTELPRO 1956-1971
COINTELPRO was a covert FBI program designed to infiltrate and undermine civil rights organizations, including the Black Panther Party, Martin Luther King Jr.’s SCLC, and anti-Vietnam War groups. The FBI used surveillance, infiltration, and disinformation to disrupt these movements. The program was exposed in the 1970s, revealing systemic abuses of power by the government against American citizens advocating for social justice.
22. The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
While the Cuban Missile Crisis was widely known as a tense moment in the Cold War, the cover-up surrounding the U.S. government’s secret negotiations with the Soviet Union was less discussed. U.S. officials secretly agreed to remove nuclear missiles from Turkey in exchange for the Soviet Union removing missiles from Cuba. This covert deal, kept from the public, changed the trajectory of U.S.-Soviet relations.
21. The Dreyfus Affair 1894-1906
The Dreyfus Affair involved the wrongful conviction of French Jewish army officer Alfred Dreyfus for treason, based on forged evidence. The French government covered up the real culprit, Captain Ferdinand Esterhazy, to avoid political scandal. The case divided France and led to widespread public outcry, ultimately leading to Dreyfus’ exoneration and revealing deep-seated anti-Semitism within the French military and government.
20. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident 1964
The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a reported attack on U.S. naval vessels by North Vietnamese forces. The U.S. government used this event to justify escalating military involvement in Vietnam. It later emerged that the attack was exaggerated or fabricated, sparking widespread distrust of the government and fueling anti-Vietnam War sentiment. The incident is seen as a key point in the escalation of the Vietnam War.
19. Operation Northwoods 1962
Operation Northwoods was a proposed plan by the U.S. Department of Defense to stage fake terrorist attacks and blame Cuba, creating a pretext for war. President John F. Kennedy rejected the plan, but the proposal remained secret until the 1990s. Its existence revealed the extreme measures some within the government were willing to take to justify military interventions during the Cold War.
18. The Zodiac Killer Cover-Up 1960s-1970s
The Zodiac Killer, a serial killer in Northern California, was able to operate without being caught for years due to bungled investigations and cover-ups. Despite sending taunting letters to the media and law enforcement, the FBI was unable to identify the killer. The mystery and cover-ups around the investigation fueled public suspicion, and the case remains unsolved, with some suggesting government incompetence played a role in the lack of resolution.
17. The Black Wall Street Massacre 1921
The Black Wall Street Massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, involved the violent destruction of a prosperous Black neighborhood by a white mob. Local authorities covered up the massacre, and the full extent of the violence was hidden for decades. It wasn’t until the late 20th century that the massacre gained national attention, leading to calls for reparations and justice for the survivors and their descendants.
16. The Great Emu War 1932
The Great Emu War was a bizarre military operation in Australia. Soldiers were sent to combat an emu population explosion that was destroying crops. Despite using machine guns, the military was unable to control the emu population, leading to widespread ridicule. The government downplayed the failure, and the war became an embarrassing chapter in Australian history that was covered up for decades.
15. The My Lai Massacre 1968
During the Vietnam War, U.S. soldiers massacred hundreds of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the village of My Lai. Initially, the military covered up the atrocity, and it wasn’t until investigative journalism exposed the massacre that the public became aware of it. The cover-up and subsequent trial of Lt. William Calley highlighted the dark side of the Vietnam War and the lengths the government went to protect its image.
14. The Phoenix Program 1965-1972
The CIA’s Phoenix Program was a covert counterinsurgency operation during the Vietnam War aimed at targeting Viet Cong supporters. The program involved the use of torture, assassinations, and other brutal tactics against civilians suspected of being sympathizers. The U.S. government initially kept the program’s methods secret, and its exposure caused outrage due to its violations of human rights and its questionable effectiveness.
13. The Boston College Tape Scandal 2001-2011
The Boston College Tape Scandal involved the use of taped interviews with former IRA members as part of a historical archive project. The tapes were used to gather confidential information about the Irish Republican Army’s activities. However, the U.S. government pressured the college to release the recordings to assist in the prosecutions of former IRA members. The scandal raised questions about the ethics of government interference in academic research.
12. The Sinking of the USS Scorpion 1968
The USS Scorpion, a U.S. Navy submarine, sank off the coast of the Azores in 1968, killing all 99 crew members aboard. The official explanation was that the submarine had suffered a mechanical failure, but conspiracy theories arose suggesting that it was involved in secret Cold War operations, possibly related to nuclear weapons. The Navy’s cover-up of the cause and the circumstances surrounding the sinking has remained a source of speculation.
11. The Chicago Seven Trial 1969-1970
The Chicago Seven Trial was a highly publicized case following the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests. Seven political activists were charged with conspiracy and inciting riots. The trial became infamous for the government’s use of legal tactics to suppress political dissent and for the judges’ biased actions. While some charges were dropped, the trial showed the lengths to which the government would go to silence protest movements.
10. The Challenger Disaster 1986
The space shuttle Challenger disaster, in which seven astronauts lost their lives, was partly attributed to a faulty O-ring, which was known to be a problem before the launch. NASA and the Reagan administration tried to cover up their mishandling of the situation and delayed public acknowledgment of the risks involved. The cover-up was revealed through investigations, leading to major reforms in NASA’s safety procedures.
9. The Maury Island UFO Incident 1947
The Maury Island UFO Incident, one of the rarest and most obscure government cover-ups, occurred in 1947 in Washington state. Harold Dahl and his son claimed to have witnessed a UFO near Maury Island, where the object supposedly dropped metal debris, which later caused a mysterious death. The incident was investigated by the U.S. Army Air Force, which reportedly covered up the story, dismissing it as a hoax. However, many believe the military suppressed the truth to avoid public panic and to conceal the discovery of extraterrestrial technology. The incident remains shrouded in mystery, with the cover-up fueling UFO conspiracy theories ever since.
8. The Civil War’s Missing Papers 1861-1865
During the American Civil War, large quantities of crucial government documents, reports, and military orders were mysteriously destroyed or lost. This cover-up included strategic military decisions and correspondence regarding the treatment of soldiers and civilians. As a result, the public remains in the dark about many key actions taken during the war, fueling conspiracy theories about the government’s motives and decisions during this tumultuous period.
7. The Assassination of President Kennedy 1963
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas sparked numerous conspiracy theories, with many questioning the official account of a lone gunman. Various theories suggest the involvement of government agencies, including the CIA, FBI, and even organized crime. The cover-up of evidence and inconsistencies in the investigation have fueled doubts about the actual perpetrators of the assassination, leading to ongoing public skepticism.
6. The “Project Stargate” Psychic Research Program 1970s – 1990s
From the 1970s to the 1990s, the U.S. government conducted secret research into the use of psychic phenomena, such as remote viewing, for military and intelligence purposes under a program known as “Project Stargate.” The government funded psychic spies, who were believed to have the ability to see distant locations or gather intelligence through extrasensory perception (ESP). While it was largely kept under wraps, the program was eventually declassified in the 1990s, revealing that the government spent millions of dollars on these studies despite limited success and skepticism from the scientific community.
5. The Kent State Shooting Aftermath Cover-Up 1970
In 1970, National Guard troops killed four students at Kent State University during an anti-Vietnam War protest. Despite the footage and eyewitness testimonies, the government worked to suppress details of the incident, including the role of intelligence operations that had infiltrated the student body. This cover-up of the true extent of government surveillance and the escalation of military force was largely concealed until the late 1990s.
4. The U.S. Navy’s “Philadelphia Experiment” 1943
The Philadelphia Experiment is an alleged military experiment conducted by the U.S. Navy in 1943, in which the USS Eldridge, a naval ship, was supposedly rendered invisible and teleported during a test of electromagnetic fields. While the Navy officially denies any such experiment ever took place, there have been numerous accounts and conspiracy theories about its occurrence. The details and nature of the experiment remain classified, fueling decades of speculation and reports of secrecy. Despite its rarity, the U.S. government has never fully acknowledged or declassified information on this alleged incident.
3. Operation Midnight Climax 1950s
During the 1950s, the CIA ran a program called “Operation Midnight Climax,” which involved setting up safehouses in San Francisco and other cities to study the effects of LSD on unwitting subjects. Prostitutes were paid to lure men into these safe houses, where they were dosed with LSD without their consent. The program was kept secret until the 1970s, leading to a major scandal regarding unethical government experimentation.
2. The Area 51 Cover-Up 1947-Present
Area 51, a highly classified U.S. Air Force facility in Nevada, has long been the subject of UFO conspiracy theories. The government denied the existence of the base for decades, and its association with classified aircraft and extraterrestrial investigations fueled speculation about the cover-up of alien technology and military secrets. Despite declassifying some documents in recent years, the full extent of the operations conducted at Area 51 remains largely hidden.
1. The Moon Landing and Alien Technology 1969-Present
The U.S. government’s role in orchestrating the successful Apollo 11 mission and its subsequent cover-up of the alleged alien technology and advanced space exploration techniques has been a subject of fascination for decades. Claims that the moon landing was staged in a studio, as well as conspiracies about UFOs and extraterrestrial encounters, continue to be hotly debated. Despite evidence to the contrary, the government’s continued silence and secrecy regarding alien discoveries maintain the cover-up’s mystery.